Concert Review: Dirty Heads

BY: MACKENZI BROWN

First of all, let me start out by saying Happy Halloween to everyone except the people who have already started decorating for Christmas. I was planning on doing a Halloween themed article since it is, in fact, Halloween, but the other amazing authors that I work with have already covered that topic very well. So, if you are in the mood for spookiness today– check out the articles by Savannah Silbernagel and Caitlyn Jenkins.

Second of all, I really fucking love the Dirty Heads.

This past Friday night I packed into the Tabernacle, one of the ten coolest concert venues across America according to USA Today, to see the Dirty Heads for the *drumroll please* fourth time. And let me tell you — not ONE of their concerts have been any less vibrant than the other.

This time around, the Dirty Heads were accompanied by Tyrone’s Jacket and The Unlikely Candidates. The members of Tyrone’s Jacket had someone come on stage to sage it before they came on, and I knew then that they were about to be so extra. They had really good energy, which was their main objective, but it was hard to understand what Knowaking (pronounced Noah King) was singing and rapping about. In addition, I would have liked to hear rapper and producer, MUDLUX, sing more because he has an amazing voice. All in all, I was not a big fan of theirs and kind of zoned out during their performance. Sorry.

The Unlikely Candidates, on the other hand, is on the complete opposite side of my like/dislike spectrum. I absolutely adored them. From start to finish, the entire band and especially lead singer Kyle Morris, from Acworth, GA, enveloped the stage with their high energy, indie-rock performance. Yes, typically every rock band of the sorts makes the stage their own with jumps and hair flips and yada yada yada, BUT what makes this performance soar above the others is the fact that Morris performed with a casted broken leg and still jumped around the stage, flipped his hair, and head-banged on a peg leg (Yes, a peg leg!) regardless of how many times he almost fell (which was a lot). I had never heard of this band before the announcement that they were to be joining the Dirty Heads on tour, but they are definitely my type of band. There are a few things that I do not take lightly and two of them are (1) my comparisons and (2) my love for Brendon Urie/Panic! at the Disco as a whole. So, it is with much thought that I say The Unlikely Candidates remind me heavily of P!ATD because Kyle Morris has a very similar sounding voice as Brendon Urie. 11/10 performance. Give their new EP a listen here.

Finally at ten o’clock, lead singers Jared Watson (“Dirty J”) and Dustin Bushnell (“Duddy B”) took the stage singing “Sails to the Wind,” which immediately had fans feeling nostalgic since this is a song from their first album, Any Port In A Storm (2008). I cried. They then proceeded to play a number of cult favorites such as “Medusa,” “Franco Eyed,” “My Sweet Summer,” and a nice rendition/ blend of “Spread Too Thin” and”Lay Me Down,” all of which had the crowd jumping and yelling the lyrics back at Watson and Bushnell. Going into this concert, I was nervous that the majority of their songs would be pulled from their newest album, Swim Team, which just came out about two weeks ago. Although, Swim Team is filled with solid jams you will accidentally listen to over and over again because it’s just that dang good, it was still really nice to have a solid mixture of new and old songs alike.

The energy the crowd built up throughout the performance completely erupted during the hiatus before the encore. Everyone was yelling at the top of their lungs and stomping their feet on the floor so loud I kind of thought I was at a football game for a second. The hiatus was not long before they took the stage yet again, with even more energy than before, which I didn’t even know was possible to be honest. They ended with “That’s All I Need,” which is a very fitting closing song considering it contains the lyrics “there ain’t no place I’d rather be, I’m talking bout right here, right now; that’s all I need,” and the 1985 film, The Goonies, inspired fan-favorite “Sloth’s Revenge.” Before they left, Duddy B and Dirty J put on an EDM remix of their song “Oxygen,” spewed water across the crowd, and danced off the stage while fans danced out onto Luckie St.

The good vibes that this band puts off during every single performance is truly amazing. The combination of the changing mellow lights, the transition between alternative, hip-hop, and slow jams, and the hazy view of the stage (thank you Stoners) all contribute to the Dirty Heads unmatchable radiant and light-hearted aura. You can tell by their facial expressions and energy (and their new song “Vacation”) that they absolutely love what they do and are so grateful to all of their supporting fans. Well, Dirty Heads, we are grateful for you and I hope to have added many more lovely faces to the family-feel fanbase by writing this review.

P.S.- Trick or Treat yourself by clicking on the hyperlinks I included in this article to fill your ears with musical bliss.